Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan, who is running an independent campaign for Michigan governor in the 2026 election cycle, is gaining traction among voters, according to a new poll released Friday from Schoen Cooperman Research.
The poll of 600 likely November 2026 voters in Michigan shows Duggan with the support of 26% of voters — while top Democratic candidate Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson sits at 30% and top Republican candidate U.S. Rep. John James having 29% of voter support.
A statement from Duggan’s campaign called the poll a demonstration of him “rapidly closing the gap on the top Republican and Democrat candidates statewide.”
The margin of error for the poll is 4%, placing Duggan within that margin.
“We are building a coalition of support unlike anything this state has seen before, pulling unprecedented support from Democrats and Republicans. We’re winning unions, chambers of commerce, clergy and elected officials,” said campaign manager Ed Duggan in a statement from the campaign.
The statement also pointed to Duggan’s job approval statewide as the mayor of Detroit, where 63% of Democrats — the party that he ran under for all three of his mayoral terms — and 47% of Republicans approved.
The poll also showed Duggan with a higher net favorability rating compared to Benson, James, and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist — though all did have net positive ratings among voters.
“Another poll, another lead for Jocelyn Benson,” Benson’s campaign manager Nikki Goldschein wrote to the Advance in response to the polling. “Michiganders want leaders who can take on broken systems and fix them to make life easier for people across the state — not politicians who attack and divide. That’s why voters keep putting Jocelyn on top, while John James and Mike Duggan are left fighting to keep up.”
Internal Benson campaign polling also shows Duggan much further behind Benson or James, over 15 points behind either of those candidates.
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